JERUSALEM – A scan of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s brain on Saturday showed “very slight signs of improvement” but no real change in his condition, which remains critical but stable, a hospital official said Saturday evening.

After three days of a medically induced coma and three operations to stop bleeding and reduce pressure that arose in his brain from a major stroke on Wednesday, Sharon, 77, is facing new risks.

The risks, which stem from his immobility since the stroke, include development of life-threatening infections such as pneumonia, urinary- tract infections and bedsores.

It is standard care to move the arms and legs of stroke patients to prevent muscle atrophy and contractions. Hospital workers also move patients and use special mattresses to prevent bedsores.

But Sharon’s bulk would make such care more difficult and increase his risks for complications, according to stroke experts not involved in his care.

Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, said Saturday that Sharon’s blood pressure, heart rate and other “vital signs were within normal limits.” Sharon is breathing with the aid of a mechanical respirator.

Today, Sharon’s medical team will consider when to try to wake him from the induced coma. Until that effort is made, doctors cannot determine how much damage the stroke has caused in terms of paralysis and intellectual functions.

Many Israelis prayed for Sharon on the Jewish Sabbath while his two sons, Omri and Gilad, kept a vigil by their father’s bedside.

Separately, the imprisoned Palestinian politician Marwan Barghouti warned against any move to use Sharon’s illness as a reason to postpone Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for Jan. 25.

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